2 Corinthians 1:10

10 From such terrible dangers of death ^[a] he saved us, and will save us; and we have placed our hope in him that he will save us again,

2 Corinthians 1:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 1:10

Who delivered us from so great a death
Accordingly, being enabled to trust in God, when all human hope and helps failed, to believe in hope against hope, then the Lord appeared for them, and delivered them from this heavy affliction; which, because by reason of it they were not only in danger of death, and threatened with, but were even under the sentence of it, is therefore called a death, and so great an one, see ( 2 Corinthians 11:23 ) . The apostle expresses the continuance of the mercy,

and doth deliver;
which shows that they were still exposed to deaths and dangers, but were wonderfully preserved by the power of God, which gave great encouragement to them to hope and believe that God would still preserve them for further usefulness. The Alexandrian copy leaves out this clause, and so does the Syriac version.

In whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
all the three tenses, past, present, and future, are mentioned, which shows that an abiding sense of past and present deliverances serves greatly to animate faith in expectation of future ones.

2 Corinthians 1:10 In-Context

8 We want to remind you, friends, of the trouble we had in the province of Asia. The burdens laid upon us were so great and so heavy that we gave up all hope of staying alive.

9 We felt that the death sentence had been passed on us. But this happened so that we should rely, not on ourselves, but only on God, who raises the dead.

10 From such terrible dangers of death he saved us, and will save us; and we have placed our hope in him that he will save us again,

11 as you help us by means of your prayers for us. So it will be that the many prayers for us will be answered, and God will bless us; and many will raise their voices to him in thanksgiving for us.

12 We are proud that our conscience assures us that our lives in this world, and especially our relations with you, have been ruled by God-given frankness and sincerity, by the power of God's grace and not by human wisdom.

Footnotes

• [a]. terrible dangers of death; [some manuscripts have] terrible death.